Get ready to pay up to share your Netflix account: The streaming service will begin to crack down on password sharing starting next year, the company announced in its letter to investors Tuesday. That's also when Netflix plans to launch an ad-supported tier.
"Our goal is to find an easy-to-use paid sharing offering that we believe works for our members and our business that we can roll out in 2023," the company wrote. The letter also states that Netflix is aiming to launch an ad-supported tier "around the early part of 2023."
Netflix first announced plans to monetize shared accounts and launch a cheaper, ad-supported tier in April. The company struck a deal with Microsoft to sell and power its ads last week.
Netflix executives have said in the past there were an estimated 100 million households who participated in account sharing. The company had already begun a test asking people to pay more for the ability to share their accounts in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru.
On Monday, the company announced a separate test with a slightly different approach: Starting in August, Netflix will ask members in Argentina, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras to pay more if they want to stream to more than one home.
"We’re encouraged by our early learnings and ability to convert consumers to paid sharing in Latin America," the company said Tuesday.
Netflix also announced Tuesday that it had lost another 0.97 million subscribers in Q2. The company expects to add 1 million subscribers in Q3, compared to 4.38 million added subscribers in Q3 of 2021.
Disclosure: Protocol is owned by Axel Springer, whose chairman and chief executive officer, Mathias Döpfner, is on the board of Netflix.
Climate TRACE's data show emissions at the facility-level.Image: Climate TRACE